Massive protest blocks Armenian parliament as new PM accuses opposition of ‘counter-revolution’

Tens of thousands of protesters blocked the parliament building in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Tuesday night, after MPs voted for a law which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has blasted as the start of a “counter-revolution.”

Pashinyan, who was put in charge of the government this May as a result of large-scale demonstrations, has urged his supporters to again take to the streets across the country and call for a new parliamentary election.

Earlier on Tuesday, the National Assembly held an extraordinary session and adopted a law that complicates the dissolution of the parliament. It stated that the vote on the issue should be delayed if there is no quorum or if any other complications arise.

The members of Pashinyan’s Way Out Alliance prevented electronic voting in the parliament, but 61 out of the 105 deputies still backed the legislation simply by raising their hands.

Pashinyan told the crowd that the Republican Party (RPA) of former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, which still holds almost half of the seats in the parliament, and its allies from Bright Armenia and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF/Dashnaktsutyun), “have officially announced counter-revolution” in the country.

The PM announced that he has decided to sack the government ministers representing Bright Armenia and ARF. He said that he himself was going resign to speed up the disbanding of the parliament and the election of new deputies.

Pashinyan then went inside the parliament building for talks with the opposition, expressing hope that his rivals will “correctly assess the situation.”

“It would be nice if we sign an agreement that none of the forces in parliament will nominate a candidate for prime minister," he said, as cited by Interfax.

Thousands of people remained outside the parliament to wait for the outcome of the talks, chanting “RPA, go away!” and other slogans. No incidents have been reported during the protest, which has so far been peaceful.

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